Airstream Inland Empire moving to Temecula

The Airstream dealership in Lake Elsinore — Airstream Inland Empire — is moving into the old Bianchi building on Jefferson Avenue in Temecula.

A staffer said sales could begin as soon as this week and service work could start in about a month or so. The Lake Elsinore location, which had been the company’s sole Riverside County dealership, will be closing, he added.

Crews have been hard at work since last year prepping the Temecula building, which used to house the headquarters for leather goods company Bianchi International, for use by AIE’s sales, repair and support staff.

In 2016, AIE received permission from the city of Lake Elsinore to build a dedicated building near Interstate 15 that evoked the classic styling of their iconic recreational vehicles.

Nicole Dailey, senior management analyst in Lake Elsinore, said in an email Wednesday that her city’s planning teams have not heard from AIE as to whether that project is shelved indefinitely but “we have assumed so due to their decision to move to Temecula.”

Asked if there were any behind-the-scenes issues that may have prompted the move to Temecula, Dailey said she was told by the Lake Elsinore City Manager that it was a business decision by AIE.

“It is sometimes cheaper to move into an existing building rather than build from the ground up,” she said.